Morrissey

Ringleader Of The Tormentors

[4/5] Lyrical hero to Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz, raison d’etre for Brand New’s Jesse Lacey, tourmate to Tiger Army, and patron saint of emo boys everywhere, Morrissey made a triumphant return to the spotlight after seven years of musical silence with 2004’s slick, striking You Are The Quarry. A mere two years later, the Smiths’ enigmatic former frontman returns in equally fine form with Ringleader Of The Tormentors, a romantic, self-referential collection of songs that, even though we’ve heard this inimitable voice singing the same old tune for years, manages to avoid staleness. The album’s swooping ballads and jangly midtempo jaunts bring to mind both Morrissey’s mid-’90s mellow period and his catchiest solo singles (e.g., “Hairdresser On Fire”), respectively. Yet the flared horns and bombastic riffs that strut like triumphant matadors throughout “I Will See You In Far-Off Places,” as well as the watery trip-hop that runs through “Life Is A Pigsty,” add pleasing dimensions to the singer’s lyrics, a typically furrowed-brow mix of politically charged vitriol and resigned melancholy. Heck, even an obnoxious children’s choir on a few songs can’t put a damper on Tormentors’ reflective mood and Morrissey’s velvet croon.
(ATTACK/SANCTUARY) Annie Zaleski



ROCKS LIKE: Morrissey’s Vauxhall And I • Elefant’s Sunlight Makes Me Paranoid • Brand New’s Deja Entendu